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"Water Is Our Life": How a Mining Disaster Affected the Navajo Nation

(Truthout) In the midst of the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan, it is not surprising that the World Health Organization recently released a report documenting that the environment is responsible for almost a quarter of deaths and disease in the world.

But this news to the Diné (Navajo) people, who believe that all parts of nature -- the water, fish, trees, and stars -- are equal members of society and are so intricately connected that an imbalance in one member may impact another.

The Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (P30 ES006694) is a Unit of the Center for Toxicology, at the College of Pharmacy, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. We also acknowledge the people – past, present, and future – of the Tohono O'odham Nation, on whose traditional lands we study and work.